Recent searches
Search options
#ClimateDiary Saturday morning I was wondering whether people I know in real life even see these kinds of graphs. I decided to find out by sharing it in WhatsApp groups I am in (not all but was quite brave - included colleagues, family, etc) posting it with this message.
Entirely unscientific, badly worded etc, but I am so glad I did! I learned a number of interesting things:
1. In every group, 70-90 % of people had never seen this graph and do not normally see these graphs. 1/x
2/x #ClimateDiary I do think most people, whilst aware of #ClimateChange in general, are actually pretty oblivious to what is going on at the moment, in the #Antarctic and elsewhere.
I just did a mini-one person survey and asked my family this question: where in the world are #FlashFloods in last few days - right now?
First person didn't know of any. Still awaiting answers from rest of family.
(Places I know, maybe more: #pakistan #Spain #NewYorkState #Japan #Turkey #India #China #Vermont)
3/x #ClimateDiary
2. Quite a few people, it turns out, did not really understand the graph or did not know what to make of it. Many, in fact - once a few people admitted it, many more said so, too.
3. In one group, people started digging, and found a lot of important additional data - which is usually missing, and which I left out completely too - #Graphs alone are useful but out of context can be not just confusing but misleading
4/x #ClimateDiary
I do think it is really important for all of us think much more about #Graphs - that we find ways to first of all make sure we ourselves properly understand what we share (and are able to be cautious and critical, too), and that we find ways for making graphs comprehensible for everyone. In one group, one person shared this - great #ClimateGraphArt ! #JillPelto
5/x #ClimateDiary
4. Many people said they were grateful that I had shared this, asked to share elsewhere, and it sparked a lot of discussion.
I have recently almost stopped sharing news, trying to engage new people - from this I learned that it is good to be brave and just do it, not too much, but from time to time, always trying to reach new groups, start new conversations. Not to stop with all that
Hi @pvonhellermannn,
Happy to read you've got a positive feedback from your friends and family.
Unfortunately I have made another experience: no response/ no reaction of any of my family or "friends"...just pure ignorance of all my notes I shared with them! Notes with simple facts, easy to understand and read...
it's very sad to feel this kind of ignorance about facts which really matter...
by the way, sharing other stuff, the response comes inmediately.
Have you made similar experiences?
@alex323 most of the time it is exactly like that for me. in my family especially. i did that follow up question about floods, only one sister even responded, noone else. Then someone posted birthday party pictures and lots of responses... so yes, usually very much the same. It is a #Taboo basically. That's why I try not to raise it too much, in fact had largely stopped. Just occasionally can't help myself..
In terms of rhetorical effect, there is a world of difference between telling people things or expressing opinions to them, and, as you did here, ask them a meta-question about whether they'd seen a thing, to gather information for yourself.
It's very striking to me how the discussion here, about graphs, about whether or not people talk with friends and family about climate change, completely misses how radically different what you did was than what most people trying to consciousness raise about climate change do.